Darkness - “Say Yes”
Wolff writes, “ ‘Turn off the light,’ she said from the hallway. He reached over and pulled the chain on the bedside lamp. The room went dark…His heart pounded the way it had on their first night together, the way it still did when he woke at a noise in the darkness and waited to hear it again - the sound of someone moving through the house, a stranger." The darkness teaches Ann's husband concerning the irrelevance of colorism. Ann recognizes that her husband would strive to see her in the darkness. The central ideology that is propagated by the darkness is that colors should not be exploited to hinder marriages and love. Ann wants her husband to rise above his prejudice towards the dark-skinned folks.
Resentment - “Soldier's Joy”
The first sergeant states, “You resent me, You think you should be sitting here. You don’t know that’s what you think because you’ve totally sublimated your resentment, but that’s what it is all right, and that’s why you and me are developing a definite conflict profile.” The sergeant suspects that Hooper is envious of his ranking, and such resentment demonstrates the conflicts which are inherent in competitive workplaces, where the workers compete with each other in terms of ranking. Resentment among employees would hinder cooperation among them.
Fantasy - “Soldier's Joy”
Mickey narrates, “Yeah, they drove up to this man’s house and dumped a truckload of logs in his yard and gave him a chain saw. This was his fantasy. You should see how happy he is, Hoop. I’d give anything to be that happy.” Mickey is “watching the tube” which elicits her unconscious yearning for fantasy. Her insistence for Hooper to visit her indicates that Hooper represents her ideal fantasy.
Theater - “Coming Attractions”
Wolff explains, “Jean was alone in the theatre. She had seen the customers out, locked the doors, and zipped up the night’s receipts in the bank deposit bag. Now she was taking a last look around while she waited for her boss to come back and drive her home.” The theatre, where the story commences, is Jean’s workplace. It offers entertainment to customers who delight in viewing films. Jean is experienced in working in the theatre environment because she manages it by herself when her employer is not present.
Ice - “Coming Attractions”
Wolff explicates, "Mr. Munson had left after the first show to go ice skating at the new mall in Buena Vista. He'd been leaving early for almost a month now and at first Jean thought he was committing adultery against his wife, until she saw him on the ice one Saturday afternoon." Ice makes skating enjoyable. Mr. Munson delights in skating that it becomes his hobby. He would not derive optimal utility from skating on a surface where there is no ice, and his bodyweight does not discourage him from venturing in the skating.
Sunglasses - “Coming Attractions”
Wolff writes, “Halfway down the aisle Jean found a pair of sunglasses. They were Guccis. She dropped them in the bag and tried to forget about them, as if she were a regular honest person who did not steal lost items and everything else that wasn’t bolted down, but Jean knew that she was going to keep the sunglasses and this knowledge made her resistance feel ridiculous.” The sunglasses, considering their brand, are a temptation for Jean. Obviously, the sunglasses were forgotten by a client who had been watching a film at the theatre. Jean is torn between uphold her honesty and preserving the glasses for the owner.
